Regent
Hur MOVED for APPROVAL of the Minutes of the May 29-30, 2003
Regular Meeting in Great Falls, MT

The Minutes of the May 29-30, 2003
Regular Meeting in Great Falls, MT APPROVED unanimously on a 7-0 vote.

Regent Semmens MOVED for APPROVAL of the Minutes of the June 17, 2003 Special
Meeting in Helena.

The Minutes of
the June 17, 2003 Special Meeting in
Helena, MT were approved unanimously on 7-0 vote AS AMENDED.

Open Forum for Public Input on MONTANA
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ISSUES

The
following students spoke about the Nursing Program at MSU-Northern:
Elizabeth Cummins, Katie Knapstead, Berna Johnson, and Maria Lacey. The
Board briefly discussed the program requirement on failing two courses.

Matt
Singer noted that MontPirg has a new Board of Directors. More than 25%
of students on campus voted, with 5 to 1 to keep MontPirg active. He
urged the Board of Regents to not remove their ability to do what they do.

a.

Local Executive Board of The
University of Montana-Western re: Adoption and implementation of X-1 program
by year 2004 and the Masters program at UM-Western - Betty Iverson, Member
Local Executive Board

MaryEllen
Wilkerson, a graduate of UM-Western and a member of the Local Executive Board
addressed the Board indicating the community of Dillon supports the campus
100%, that equine studies have been very popular, and the Youth Challenge
Program is working very well. However they have concerns about the X1
program the administration and faculty have been testing. She feels that
something more important would be the reinstatement of the masters program at
Western.

Debbie
Barrett, Representative for District 34 also noted the focus on campus has
been on the X1 program, rather than the masters program. She believes
UM-Western should be on a level playing field and that could be attained with
a masters program.

John
Schuyler, member of the UM-Western Foundation indicated the people of Dillon
are not against X1, but rather that the campus has not followed its business
plan submitted to the federal government which entailed a three year period of
study. At the end of the first year, the campus adopted X1.

Tate
Else, President of ASUM-W noted that the students do not feel they have had a
voice in this decision.

Commissioner
Krause will work with President Dennison to clarify this situation before the
September 25-26, 2003 meeting.

b.

Two
Year Education

Representative Carol Juneau
provided the Board with two resolutions, the first opposing the University
System Writing and Math Proficiency Assessments. The second requests the
Office of Public Instruction, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher
Education and the Montana University System to include in their budget
requests for the next biennium adequate resources to assist them in the
implementation of HB 20-1-501, Indian Education for All.

President Dennison
introduced Teresa Branch who is the new Vice President of Student Affairs at
UM-Missoula,
replacing Barbara Hollmann.

Scott McCarthy
announced the new officers for MAS are himself as President, Aaron Flint, Vice
President, and Ray Champ, Treasurer.

ITEM
120-1012-R0703 - Proposal to Lease a Small Portion of Property at the
Dornblaser Field Location to the Missoula-Ravalli County Transportation
Authority; The University of Montana-Missoula LeaseAttachment

There
was discussion on the possible congestion and fumes associated with this
depot.However, it was explained it is only for small buses to pace
their routes, and makes it more convenient for students to link to the campus
shuttle bus.It is also very
convenient to campus family housing.The
students are in support of this item.It
was agreed that the Campus would make public notice of this proposal although
it has already been through the City Council three times.

Regent
Semmens MOVED for APPROVAL of Items a. and b. with the understanding that public notice would be made on Item b.

Motion APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote

Labor Agreements/Other:

a.

ITEM
120-103-R0703 – Approval of Tentative Agreement with the University
Faculty Association; The University of Montana-Missoula Agreement

Regent Hur MOVED for APPROVAL of Item a.

Motion APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote

b.

ITEM
120-105-R0703
– Confirmation of Governor Martz’ appointments to Local Executive Boards;
Montana University System

The
Board requested that future items for the Montana Rural Physicians Incentive
Program be somewhat more detailed, to include the home town of each applicant,
as well as the city where they are practicing.

Dr.
Scott indicated this report was useful for a number of reasons. All of
the two year and college of technology leadership is new to the state or the
position in the last couple of years. There have been complaints that
MUS doesn’t do anything for two-year education, but this report documents
the tremendous amount already done. MUS is one of three partners to
receive a $750,000 grant split between them. Dr. Arlene Parisot is
working with nationally prominent consultants to promote learning about
clusters. They have a fairly substantial agenda of achievement.
The Board of Regents is the designated entity for the Perkins Grant in
Montana, and there is a great deal of collaboration across K-16. This
report confirms that there is a lot going on that has benefited these
campuses. Dr. Parisot noted that the Passport Project has been completed
and $1.5 million was received through CHE and RFPs were put out. The
dollars were diminished over time, but the outcomes were significant, and
people were placed into employment. The incentive grant will be
significant. MUS has important partnerships with Adult Education,
Workforce Investment, Title I and Perkins. There are measures in place
which must be met. $80,000 was received from the Governor’s
discretionary fund and is being used to look at developing an infrastructure
to provide health care programs across the state. All of these groups
are coordinated by the State Agency Management Team (SAM). Regent Roehm
commented that the economic development included here is one of the best kept
secrets in the state.

Dr.
Scott indicated the Board had the version of this item revised from the May
29-30, 2003 meeting. She attended a MACIE meeting considering these
tests, then consulted with MUS staff and proposed and accepted another option.
The ACT indicated the MUS was deficient with a requirement of three years of
math, and must go to four years. Research indicates students taking a
rigorous core do better in college, 80% stay in college through the first
three years, and they complete in a timely manner and at a higher rate as
compared to those who have the less rigorous curriculum. With the three
options proposed, there are places for virtually all students. Besides
the high school courses available on the campuses, there are other access
points for math classes such as the on-line array of classes from the North
Dakota State Board of Public Instruction, and around Montana there are 500
PLATO licenses with on-line math courses through calculus.
Representatives from K-16, the Tribal Colleges, and the Community Colleges
collaborated on this issue and none raised any concerns. There was a
strong recommendation to amend the alternate option from “high school
mathematics” to read “mathematics in high school.” Regent Roehm
asked Dr. Scott to address the misgivings voiced by Representative Juneau for
the effect of this on Native Americans. Dr. Scott indicated that the
third option was designed with them in mind. This is math only.
Option B provides a student would take four years of math, and according to
the published curricula submitted to the CHE by the tribal colleges, there are
courses suitable to meet the requirements. This sets expectations for
teachers and counselors and gives students stronger preparation than the
Regents’ requirements do, with a two to four point improvement on the ACT
and two to three point improvement on the SAT. Aside from that they are
twice as successful at staying in college and completing their education as
those who do not take the rigorous core. Under the present requirements
for math and writing, half of all students need remediation. Dean Mary
Moe expressed concern about the availability of courses in the high schools,
and the added cost for teachers in those disciplines. Professor Rich
Howard supported the program based on his own research. Mr. Curt Kochner
from MSU-Billings noted that over 50% of students need remediation. His
concern is for those who cannot succeed in the developmental classes.
There will be a continued need for remediation. Regent Semmens indicated
the proposal is not cumulative, but offers alternatives. He does not
believe proficiency standards close doors to students, but rather improve
student success in college. Dr. Scott indicated that apart from the four
year institutions, there are 17 opportunities for open access in the
university system. The Board had directed the Commissioner’s office to
do this and they have been working on it for 8 years. Regent Hamilton
said the Board of Education sub-committee met three days ago, and there were
no objections at that point to either math or writing proficiency standards.

Regent
Hamilton MOVED for APPROVAL of item c. as amended and ADOPTION of the
recommendations

Motion
APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote

d.

ITEM
119-1007-R0503
- Approval of Proposal to Rename the School of Forestry to the College of
Forestry and Conservation and to Reorganize it into Three Departments: (1)
Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, (2) Department of Forest
Management, and (3) Department of Society and Conservation; The University of
Montana-Missoula SummaryProposal

Regent Hur MOVED to APPROVE the item in two parts,
FIRST for the NAME CHANGE,
and the OTHER for the REORGANIZATION.

Regent
Mercer indicated he did not like the word “conservation” in the title. Dean Perry Brown from the School of
Forestry said they solicited names from alumni, students, faculty, and others
resulting in a list of about sixty potential names. The proposed name
was chosen for a number of reasons. The first word was chosen to honor
their heritage in forestry, and conservation was added to match the 66 year
old heritage of Forestry and Conservation Experimental District. The
word “Conservation” allows them to identify the breadth of their programs
since they have two degrees with “conservation” in the title. Regent
Semmens asked if the School of Forestry had joined the Advisory Council for
the Forestry and Timber industry as was suggested last November at their
meeting. Dean Brown indicated their first meeting will be in November,
and although that Council had not been asked for input on the name change, the
individuals of the group had been.

Regent Mercer MOVED to
adopt the name change as only the “College of Forestry”

President
Dennison explained there is a reason for the professionals in these areas to
use certain terms, and why those names work.

Regent Mercer WITHDREW
his motion.

Original Motion to change the name of the school APPROVED on 4-3 vote with
Regents Hur, Roehm and Taylor dissenting.

Regent
Hamilton expressed concern about the new administrative lines and requested an
explanation of what type of position would be filled and how it would impact
the students. President Dennison indicated the $12,500 savings would not
hire a full time person. They currently have faculty members in the
school and at the experiment station. There is more administration under
the current arrangement, and one will be lost and there will be department
chairs each with a stipend that is much less. The synergy created among
these individuals also helps bring in funding like the $15 million they have
this year.

Motion to
reorganize the School into three departments APPROVED unanimously on 7-0 vote

Regent
Mercer MOVED to allow waiver of the time period for filing grade appeals to be
extended to any grievance arising out of this course, with the understanding
students will not come back before the Board of Regents until they have
exhausted the appeal process on campus.

Motion was APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote.

i.

ITEM
119-2011-R0503
- Authorization to Establish the Gary K. Bracken Center for Excellence in
Undergraduate Business Education; Montana State University-Bozeman (Held over
from the May 29-30, 2003 meeting) SummaryAttachment

Regent Roehm MOVED for APPROVAL of Item
i.

Motion was APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote.

The
Board recessed at 12:05 for lunch with student representatives, followed by a
meeting with faculty representatives.

The Meeting Reconvened at 2:00
p.m.

SYSTEM ISSUES

Bob NystuenSenior Vice-President, Glacier Bank, and Hank
Ricklefs, General Manager, Northwest Lumber (Plum Creek) gave
a brief presentation on the Business and Education Councilin Kalispell.

b.

Creating Montana's Economic
Road Map for the Future- a discussion of creating an agreed upon economic
model. (Panel Discussion) – Regent Mercer (Panel members will sit at table with the MUS
CEOs)

Following discussion of
ideas and possibilities, Regent Mercer advised he will contact each member of
the panel requesting they create a proposal of economic development ideas that
include the MUS, and then to bring it before the Board of Regents.

ITEM
119-2010-R0503 - Establish a Doctor of Philosophy degree in history
with major fields in the history of science, technology and society,
environmental history, and history of the American West (Held over from the
May 29-30, 2003 meeting) SummaryAttachments

Items e. and f. were
discussed together.Chairman Harry Fritz of the UM-Missoula History Department
indicated they are asking to resurrect the PhD program that operated in the
1970s and 1980s.That program
produced 12 PhDs and half were published in book form.The program was discontinued since the size of the faculty was
declining.At this time, that
trend has reversed and the faculty is stabilized at 15 FTE, with six other PhD
historians who also teach with the department.There is outside funding from AB Hammond Fund for Promotion of Western
History, Boone, Tidball, Cappadocia scholarships of $30,000 for European
history, and Mosher McKinney doctoral scholarships.Job opportunities have been identified for the graduates.Where a Masters used to qualify faculty to teach in community colleges
or high schools, a PhD is now needed.President
Gamble indicated that the two PhD programs are complementary of each other. (Rather than duplicating progrms, UM has strengths in
European, Latin American, Asian, Native American, and mid-eastern history,
while MSU focuses on Social, Philosophical, Scientific, Technical and Economic
History). Robert Rydell,
Department Head of History at MSU-Bozeman noted they have new funding for this
program from the National Science Foundation.Environmental history, PhD was line-itemed into the MSU EPSCoR
proposal, with $300,000 earmarked for the PhD.Previously, PhDs were trained for research in universities, but there
are new fields such as cultural, museum, private historians, the Department of
Homeland Security, and Immigration.There
are 19 tenure track faculty, and the library has a preeminent collection on
Yellowstone Park, and in agriculture and agricultural science.The two campuses will collaborate with each other on the programs.Although the campuses indicate minimal or no added cost involved in
these programs, Interim Commissioner Krause reminded the Board they have a
formula driven budget and there will be costs involved.Due to the fiscal climate, he would not recommend either of the
programs.Deputy Commissioner
Scott concurred with the Commissioner, and although the campuses are
demonstrating the Board’s desire to see entrepreneurial spirit, the MUS
budget has been cut by $48 million.

ITEM
118-2004-R0103
- Approval to Create a Joint Masters Degree in Public Administration; Montana
State University-Bozeman and Montana State University-Billings (Held
over from the May 29-30, 2003 meeting) Summary

Regent Semmens
MOVED for APPROVAL of item h. with the understanding that Chancellor
Sexton would provide the Board with
a much more detailed
and fleshed out assessment of revenues and expenses, preferably before the
September meeting.

Regent Hamilton
MOVED for ACCEPTANCE of the report and ADOPTION of the recommendations.

Motion
APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY on 7-0 vote

ADMINISTRATIVE/BUDGET ITEMS
continued

a.

Report
on Access at 150% of resident tuition in programs with excess capacity to
Non-residents and Canadians from the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
and Saskatchewan to students meeting the scholarship requirements; Montana
Tech of The University of Montana

Please see Item

b.

ITEM
120-2005-R0703 – Authorization to Offer Online Courses to Non-resident
Students at no less than 125% of Resident Tuition; Montana State University
– (Discussion Item) REPLACES i. ITEM 119-2703-R0503 – Authorization to
Offer Access at In-State Tuition Rates to Online Courses with Excess Capacity
to Non-resident Students; Montana State University-Billings (Held
over from the May 29-30, 2003 meeting)Recommendation of Tuition Committee

The
Tuition Committee recommended that this item be amended to a minimum of 150%
of Resident Tuition, and be applied across the entire system rather than just
the Bozeman campus. The committee will present a report on the impact of the
costs to evaluate whether they are pushing resident students out of these
courses.All campus CEOs assured the
Regents that the students under this policy would still continue to be
reported as nonresident students for purposes of enrollment reporting and
state support

Regent Hur MOVED to
allow on-line courses to be offered at a minimum of 150% of resident tuition,
with the flexibility to charge more.

Regent
Mercer indicated he did not want the Board to freely delegate tuition rates to
the campuses, but that they should bring back their suggested rates for
approval. Dean Mary Moe noted that the item did not include mandatory
campus fees and she believes they should be charged to on-line students as
well. Chancellor Sexton indicated that even those students who are
on-line quickly learn the system, and their demand for services rises.
It would also complicate matters not to charge mandatory fees because of the
number that take a mixture of on-line and in-class courses. President
Dennison added that mandatory fees don’t relate to advising, but rather the
rec center, the health center and others and these are included in the list of
fees. These are ambiance fees, and if they are waived, there will be a
change in philosophy. Also in the list of fees is a fee which relates to
technology cost for this kind of delivery. They have been charging those
fees, not what the market will bear. Chancellor Sexton indicated they
could bring back original proposals as they are created. He agreed that
they are experiencing a mixture of students on and off campus both making
greater use of all the resources, attending events, activities, the student
union, and the library. Mandatory fees are part of that. Regent
Hamilton indicated this is a very complex issue and the idea of no mandatory
fees is a long range discussion item. The sentence referring to no
mandatory fees was stricken.

Motion
authorizing all campuses of MUS to price on-line offerings to non-residents at
levels no less than 150% of resident tuition rates, with any specific
proposals below the full non-resident rate to be presented to the Board before
implementation was APPROVED on 6-1 vote with Regent Hur dissenting.

Decision on Interim
Commissioner for period of August 1, 2003 to September 1, 2003

Regent Hur MOVED for APPROVAL to extend the Contract of Interim Commissioner
Carrol Krause through August 31, 2003. Sheila Stearns will then take
over on September 1, 2003.

Motion APPROVED unanimously on 7-0 vote

c.

ITEM
120-104-R0703 - Establishment of Montana Resident Student Tuition
Relief Funds and Designation of Revenue Directed by State Government to Higher
Education as a Result of Section 601 of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of 2003 for Purposes of Resident Student Tuition Relief
(Action Item) Regent Mercer

Regent Mercer MOVED for APPROVAL of item c. and amended to spread over four
years through 2007 rather than three years.

Regent Semmens MOVED for APPROVAL to direct staff and the new commissioner to
identify a time in late September or early October for a retreat for the board
to review, revise, and modify the strategic plan, to identify initiatives
before the board and decide priorities for board action.

Regent
Semmens indicated the committee had covered a lot in their meeting, and they
will return to the September 25-26, 2003 meeting with specific
recommendations, priorities, the possibility of establishing the budget in
advance of the session, new initiatives and performance matrix. They are
also discussing elimination of unnecessary reports, and are working on the
Allocation Model. At the September meeting, Laurie Neils will present to
the Board the funding problem in the Office of the Commissioner and the Board
will need to decide how to remedy it with the set aside or campus allocation.

320
seats in Section 115 of the Washington Grizzly Stadium will be reserved for UM
students. In addition, 316 more seats will be made available to students
first at the guest pass ticket rate. If by the Wednesday prior to game
day students have not purchased the reserved tickets then those
student-reserved tickets may be sold on the open market.